Today has been a wonderful day!  It is a free day; no obligations, no timeline, nothing but flow.  It has been such a blessing.  There are days I feel worthless unless I have accomplished something; then there are days like today.  I don’t have anything I can show for the day’s hours; yet I can claim deep, loving, encouraging, familiar conversation, a visit to a local bakery for a ham & cheese croissant, and time spent leisurely browsing the internet.  It has truly been a day not for accomplishment and success, but of development and growth. 












          This lazy Saturday is a great metaphor for ministry.  I can not always show a finished product, a totally transformed community or a witness to a miracle.  Yet, I can bring my full self, my undivided attention and my continuous effort into each and every day.  It is with this attitude and understanding that I am able to accept my place in the World Race.  Ministry contacts are selected for their native perspective.  They know the area, the situation and the need.  Contacts are a steady constant for the missionaries that visit the regions.  Without the expertise of these men and women, missionaries would aimlessly set out on a course with the best of intentions, but in the end, see no fruit.  Relying on the knowledge of local pastors enables us, willing to go forth, with a strategy built to fill a void.  We are thus able to be the vessels for action.  We can ignite a passion for the Lord through a program that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.    


       A friend put it to me this way: Imagine a group is responsible for a garden.  Each group member has a particular task.  If members ignored the delegation of activities and tried to do this and that, another member would not be able to do their part.  The tasks are accomplished, but perhaps out of order, perhaps too fast or too slow, perhaps all together wrong.  The Lord has blessed each of us with a path.  He is big enough, powerful enough, and detailed enough to lay out unique, independent paths for all of His children.  By respecting the tasks God has laid before us, not stepping into or taking over other things, the land can be plowed, seeds planted, watered, pruned, and finally a garden can bloom.




      I am learning to discern my place in the cycle.  Sometimes I will be seeking the perfect plot of land.  Other times I will come along and watch as the plants flourish and the flowers bloom.  This month in the Dominican Republic I think my group is watering.  Others have come before us, planting the seeds.  They came in the name of the Lord to share His love, speak His name, and declare His omnipotence. Our job is to provide an example, continue to bring Jesus into this small town and invite people to know Him intimately.